THEY MADE IT

Well, as I said recently: When you are right they never remember and when you’re wrong they never forget. And I was wrong yesterday. I did not think Australia had a hope in Hades of beating Uruguay and that the quaint “ away goal” penalty would kill us.

But they did win, in that silly thing called a “penalty shootout”. To be fair… there were thousands of fans at places like Federation Square but do most Aussies really care – even though soccer, or football as it is known elsewhere in the world, has made huge inroads into sport in Australian schools?

But I can’t believe some of the tripe. Les Murray from SBS says that Australia has gone mad over football – or soccer. He also said that Australia has now become part of the world. Hello? We beat a team from South America 1-0 in a sport which is not dominant in this country and this makes us “ part of the world”?

We go into the World Cup in Germany for the first time in around thirty years and that suddenly makes us part of the world?
What happened to the United Nations?

It is great for soccer that Australia won last night but put it into perspective. It is the first time we have qualified for the World Cup since 1974. And I think back then we got knocked out in the first round. The odds on Australia getting anywhere in Germany next year are astronomical. We are rank outsiders. If we draw a tough, high-ranking opponent we will be knocked out in the first round again.

I am not knocking what the Aussies did last night. I think we went into that game ranked about 50 and Uruguay was something like number 17 in the world so it was a sensational upset. But do many Australians care? Do many Aussies give a tinker’s cuss about the round ball game that captivates many countries in Europe and South America? WE don’t even call it “football”. We call it soccer.

I’ll admit that I was at a function in the CBD last night for the opening of Jamie Nasser’s new Lion Bar and Nightclub and people were glued to the plasma screen. And there were thousands at Federation Square. But I still ask – as Barry Gibb would say – how deep is your love?

How much passion and real commitment is there in this country for this sport? I accept that internationally it IS the biggest sport. Bigger than baseball where they have the so-called World Series in the US even though is is played big-time in Cuba ands Puerto Rico and Japan. Bigger than Rugby Union and Rugby League. And by international standards Australian Rules ranks alongside pocket billiards.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005